Sorry seems to be the hardest word. Unless, of course, you are Asian. My family emigrated to Australia from China when I was nine years old. I remember very little of the lead-up to the Big Day, and even less of the months of acclimatisation that followed, much of it spent in tears of self-pity…

As ‘lil Miss Organised, I should know a thing or two about planning when travelling abroad. Rule No. 1, plan for contingencies. Rule No. 2, everything is a contingency. After an entire 7 days in Copenhagen spread over a period of 12 months, I consider myself quite the amateur expert of speed touring the Danish…

Dear You, It has been many years since our first encounter. If first impressions are anything to go by, I was floored by your presence. I have never before met anyone quite like you, nor has there been anyone else since. You waltzed into my life, and bowled me over with that iridescent smile of…

Have you ever read a book that spoke right to your heart, just when you needed to hear it most? Have you ever wanted to scream and shout in excitement that surely it must have been written to you? For me, Quiet by Susan Cain is one such book. In a world where the only…

For the post published on Thought Catalog, click here. When you think of travelling, do you think of romance? Not the heady heights of a booze-infused orgy, of course, but the kind that sweeps you off your feet with its inexplicable intensity. The kind that sends electric flutters up and down your spine. The kind of…

An abridged version of this post appears in Thought Catalog, click here. It has been all of three weeks since my escapade in Europe has come to a close. Since then, it has been an agonising three weeks of endless corporate drudgery, interspersed with wistful reminiscences and reveries. Whilst I have fallen back into a routine…

For wide-eyed first-timers to New York, the lure of Broadway and all its promises of razzle dazzle would have been irresistible. Such was the lure which led me to fork out a mouth-watering US$500 for two mezzanine tickets at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in midtown Manhattan. If the stage setting was anything to go by…

There are times when I feel so thoroughly depleted that I cannot write a word, let alone string together a sentence. There are times when nothing I say or do comes out right, the way I intended it to be. What if I told you this has been one of those times? What if I…

1. Family Family happiness is universally considered to be one of the most influential underpinnings of spiritual happiness. During this year’s festive season, I hope you are surrounded by the people you love, and whom love you back, unconditionally. 2. Friendship Happiness is sharing our journey with friends, whom enrich our lives in more ways…

“I just wanted to take another look at you”. So he did. And in his eyes she is reborn. The age-old tale of stardom and discovery has been told innumerable times before. And indeed, A Star is Born has been remade on three separate occasions since its original 1937 film, as a musical in 1954…

In 1956, the Danish design maestro Arne Jacobsen was given the coveted opportunity to design the world’s “first designer hotel”. The result is a stunning piece of modernist architecture celebrated the world over as the SAS Royal Hotel, the first skyscraper in Copenhagen. Built for the airline Scandinavian Airlines System (“SAS”), Jacobsen’s influences permeated every…

Light shines bright in the sky Illuminating our lives In shades of vivid hues and meaning Light shines Through depths of sorrow and despair Casting shadows everywhere A beacon of hope, love and laughter It shines selflessly Most people call it Home…

Country: Denmark Language: Danish There is something about film festivals that resonates with the eclectic in me. Whilst a plethora of Asian (and other foreign) films have graced cinema screens Down Under in recent years, my quest for everything Nordic has so far left me with slim pickings. That is, until the 2018 Sydney Film…

Most climbers aren’t in fact deranged, they’re just infected with a particularly virulent strain of the Human Condition. – Jon Krakauer (Eiger Dreams) Start here for Part 1 of my Hiker’s Paradise in Switzerland’s Jungfrau region. Grindelwald Fresh from my discovery of Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald just the day before, I set out to explore Switzerland’s…

Let me start by apologising for my prolonged absence from my beloved WP community. Sure, I have replied to comments and even stalked my favourite sites from time to time, but for the most part, it might have appeared that I’d slipped into premature hibernation. Alas, I have just been travelling! Unlike my previous travels,…

Dear You, We often speak of time standing still. We speak of seismic moments; moments which never fail to immobilise us in our thoughts and prayers for another exquisite encounter. We speak of our dreams, hopes and joys – near and afar – as if destined to live out our forever in the numbered days….

Country: Denmark Language: Danish Much has been said about companionship being the greatest form of love. As elusive as this feels sometimes, it often presents itself in the most unlikeliest of places. Little did I know that I would find it in a small budget arthouse Danish film, where a weighty subject matter finds its…

As the hour chimed midnight and fireworks danced across the skies of Sydney Harbour, I sat on my favourite couch and eagerly Googled this term: New Year’s Resolutions. As a firm believer of “what will be will be”, I’m not one to dwell on resolutions. After a particularly tumultuous 2017, however, a confidence booster would…

As a passionate connoisseur of Danish designs, my tour of Denmark would be incomplete without an artful ride through the streets of Copenhagen. With a population registering a little more over five million people, this southernmost Scandinavian nation undoubtedly punches above its weight in cutting edge contemporary design. The Danish design footprint – with an…

I logged into WordPress today, horrified at the realisation that I have not produced any original content for over a month (Almost Friends was really a repost from August)! A blogger I follow astutely pointed out that if we don’t adequately nourish and nurture our blogs, what right do we have to demand an active…

There is a bus shelter not too far from my place Boasting a fresh coat of red and white paint It beckons Everyday As if keen to rouse me from my trancelike state With a coffee in one hand And a head full of Coldplay I dash for the 7.23 that would take me to…